2. • Born: October 17, 1972 (age 45)
• Residence: Rochester Hills, Michigan, U.S.
• Occupation: Rapper, record producer, record executive, songwriter, actor
• Years active:1988–present
• Origin: Detroit, Michigan, U.S
• Genres: Hip hop
3. Eminem’s career
Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States. Throughout his
career, he has had 10 number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and five number-
one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. With 47.4 million albums sold in the US and
220 million records globally, he is among the world's best-selling artists of all time
and is consistently cited as one of the greatest and most influential artists in any
genre. Additionally, he is the only artist to have eight albums consecutively debut
at number one on the Billboard 200. Rolling Stone ranked him 83rd on its list of
100 Greatest Artists of All Time, calling him the "King of Hip Hop".
4. Eminem’s early career
• As Eminem's reputation grew, he was recruited by several rap groups; the first
was the New Jacks. After they disbanded he joined Soul Intent, who released a
single on their 1995 self-titled EP featuring Proof. Eminem and Proof then
teamed up with four other rappers to form The Dirty Dozen (D12), who released
their first album Devil's Night in 2001. Eminem had his first run-in with the law at
age 20, when he was arrested for his involvement in a drive-by shooting with a
paintball gun. The case was dismissed when the victim did not appear in court.
5. 2000–2002: The Marshall Mathers LP, lyrical conflicts and The
Eminem Show
• The Marshall Mathers LP was released in May 2000. It sold 1,760,000 copies in
its first week, breaking US records held by Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle for fastest-
selling hip hop album and Britney Spears' ...Baby One More Time for fastest-
selling solo album. The Eminem Show was released in May 2002. It was
another success, reaching number one on the charts and selling over
1.332 million copies during its first full week. The album's single, "Without Me",
denigrates boy bands, Limp Bizkit, Dick and Lynne Cheney, Moby and others.
6. 2003–2007: Encore, more lyrical conflicts and musical
hiatus
• Encore, released in 2004, was another success. Its sales were partially driven
by the first single, "Just Lose It", which contained slurs about Michael Jackson.
On October 12, 2004, a week after the release of "Just Lose It", Jackson
phoned the Los Angeles-based Steve Harvey radio show to report his
displeasure with its video. In 2005, industry insiders speculated that Eminem
was considering ending his rapping career after six years and several Multi-
Platinum albums. Rumors began early in the year about a double album to be
released late that year, entitled The Funeral; the greatest hits album, entitled
Curtain Call: The Hits, was released in December.
7. 2008–2009: Comeback, Relapse and Refill
• Eminem appeared on his Shade 45 Sirius channel in September 2008, saying:
"Right now I'm kinda just concentrating on my own stuff, for right now and just
banging out tracks and producing a lot of stuff. You know, the more I keep
producing the better it seems like I get 'cause I just start knowing stuff."
Interscope confirmed that a new album would be released in spring 2009.
8. Artistry
• Influences, style, and rapping technique
• Eminem has cited several MCs as influencing his rapping style, including
Esham, Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane, Newcleus, Ice-T, Mantronix,
Melle Mel (on "The Message"), LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Run–D.M.C., Rakim
and Boogie Down Productions. In How to Rap, Guerilla Black notes that
Eminem studied other MCs to hone his rapping technique: "Eminem listened to
everything and that's what made him one of the greats".
9. Personal life
• Family
Eminem has been scrutinized, as a rapper and personally. He was married twice
to Kimberly Anne "Kim" Scott. He met Kim in high school while he stood on a table
with his shirt off rapping LL Cool J's "I'm Bad". Kim and her twin sister Dawn had
run away from home; they moved in with Eminem and his mother when he was
15, and he began an on-and-off relationship with Kim in 1989. Their daughter
Hailie was born on December 25, 1995. The two were married in 1999 and
divorced in 2001
10. Health issues
• Eminem has spoken publicly about his addiction to prescription drugs, including
Vicodin, Ambien and Valium. According to friend and fellow D12 member Proof,
Eminem first straightened out in 2002. During the productio In December 2007,
Eminem was hospitalized after a methadone overdose he had first bought from
a dealer who had told him it was "just like Vicodin, and easier on [your] liver". He
continued to buy more, until he collapsed in his bathroom one night and was
rushed to the hospital. Doctors there told him he had ingested the equivalent of
four bags of heroin and was "about two hours from dying". n of 8 Mile, Eminem,
working 16 hours a day, developed insomnia.
11. Honors and awards
• He shared the 2002 Academy Award for Best Original Song for his song Lose
Yourself, co-written with Jeff Bass and Luis Resto. His Academy Award win
made him the first rapper to receive this award.
• Eminem has received fifteen Grammy Awards, has been praised for his "verbal
energy" and lyrical quality and was ranked ninth on MTV's Greatest MCs of All
Time list. In 2003, he was thirteenth on MTV's 22 Greatest Voices in Music list
and 82nd on Rolling Stone's Immortals list. In 2008, Vibe readers named
Eminem the Best Rapper Alive.
